Senior Manager – Cyber Incident & Response – Consulting

Oliver James Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Oliver James Group is seeking a Senior Manager / Associate Director to lead cyber incident response advisory and live incident management for major organisations. You will drive incident preparedness, crisis management and resilience, and coordinate response activities with technical specialists.

You will lead complex client engagements, develop senior client relationships, contribute to business development and offer growth within the Cyber Incident Response practice.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Cyber Incident Response and crisis management.
• Proven ability to develop incident response plans and playbooks.
• Experience designing cyber simulations, wargames and training for executives.
• Track record leading large client engagements with budget and people ownership.
• Strong ability to communicate complex cyber issues to technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of CIR advisory and incident management engagements.
• Advise clients on incident preparedness, crisis management and resilience.
• Lead development of incident response plans, playbooks and readiness assessments.
• Design cyber simulations and sessions with senior stakeholders.
• Lead business development, proposals and go-to-market activity.

Skills

Cyber Incident Response

Crisis Management

Leadership

Business Development

Stakeholder Management

Communication

Client Relationship Management

Project Management

Financial Management

Job description

**Senior Manager / Associate Director – Cyber Incident Response Advisory & Incident Management**This is a senior opportunity within a leading Cyber Risk & Security practice, working with major organisations to strengthen their ability to prepare for, manage and recover from complex cyber incidents. The role sits across both proactive cyber incident response advisory and live incident management, helping clients improve resilience while supporting them through high-impact security events.You will work closely with senior stakeholders and C-suite leaders, advising on cyber incident preparedness, crisis and incident management, response strategies and organisational resilience. Proactive engagements will include incident response planning, playbook development, readiness assessments, wargaming and simulation exercises, training and post-incident reviews. You will also support clients during live cyber incidents, coordinating response activities and working alongside technical specialists to contain threats and minimise business disruption.At Senior Manager / Associate Director level, this is also a significant leadership and commercial role. You will lead complex client engagements, develop senior client relationships, contribute to business development and go-to-market activity, and help shape and grow the Cyber Incident Response offering.1. A) Responsibilities* Lead the delivery of complex Cyber Incident Response (CIR) advisory and incident management engagements.* Advise clients on incident preparedness, crisis management, response and operational resilience.* Lead the development of incident response plans, scenario-specific playbooks, readiness assessments and post-breach reviews.* Design and facilitate cyber simulations, wargames and incident response exercises, including sessions with senior executives and C-suite stakeholders.* Support and lead aspects of live cyber incident responses, working collaboratively with technical response specialists and client teams.* Act as a trusted adviser to senior client stakeholders, building strong and lasting relationships.* Lead business development activity, including go-to-market initiatives, proposals, pitches and development of new client opportunities.* Identify opportunities to expand existing client relationships across proactive and reactive cyber services.* Lead multidisciplinary teams and take responsibility for successful project, programme, financial and people management.* Contribute to the development of new Cyber Incident Response propositions and enhancement of existing services.* Coach, mentor and develop colleagues while helping build capability across the wider Cyber practice.* Contribute to the external profile and market reputation of the Cyber Incident Response practice.1. B) Experience & Qualifications* Significant experience within Cyber Incident Response, incident management, crisis management or a closely related operational cyber role.* Strong understanding of Cyber Incident Response methodologies, including attacker techniques, threat themes and key technical security concepts.* Demonstrable experience developing incident response plans, procedures and scenario-specific playbooks.* Experience designing and facilitating cyber incident exercises, simulations, wargames and training sessions for stakeholders at different levels of seniority.* Proven track record of leading large, complex client engagements or programmes, including project, financial and people management responsibilities.* Strong experience of business development within the private sector, ideally including propositions, pitches, proposals and senior client relationship development.* Strong commercial awareness and understanding of how cyber incidents can affect wider business processes, technology and operational resilience.* Experience working with and influencing senior executives and C-suite stakeholders.* Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex cyber issues for both technical and non-technical audiences.* Strong leadership, problem-solving and stakeholder-management capabilities.* Familiarity with security frameworks such as ISO 27001 and NIST is advantageous.* Relevant professional qualifications such as CISSP, ITIL, CompTIA Security+, SANS or equivalent would be beneficial.* Existing Government Security Clearance is advantageous, although candidates should be willing to undergo security vetting where required.* Willingness to participate in an on-call rota and travel across the UK and EMEA when required to support live incidents.